The MSU Office for Community Involvement (OCI) works to better connect campus resources to meet community needs. Each year thousands of MSU students provide one-time or on-going service to hundreds of Bozeman area non-profit, school and governmental organizations as volunteers, interns, or work-study staff. The Gallatin Valley plays host to over 400 not-for-profit organizations working to address human service, environmental, emergency service, justice and educational issues and challenges. As a land grant institution Montana State University has, from inception, been committed to giving back to the people of Montana. One way in which this is done is through the services provided by our students to those in need. Take some time and look around our website to find out about all the services we offer and the abundance of opportunities to get involved!
The mission of the MSU Office for Community Involvement is to encourage and support the development of an ethic of service and a sense of civic responsibility among MSU students and the campus community through meaningful service that addresses identified community needs.
Vision
The MSU Office for Community Involvement will be the primary campus-based resource to students, faculty, staff and the larger community for civic engagement and service leadership development opportunities. We will:
- build strong and reciprocal campus-community partnerships
- share campus human and intellectual assets
- support student success through active discovery and learning in the community setting
- promote and encourage a lifetime commitment to civic engagement
News
MSU Office for Community Involvement is honored with a Nourishing Community Award
On March 23, 2012, the MSU Office for Community Involvement (OCI) was honored by the Gallatin Valley Food Bank at their inaugural Nourishing Community Awards Ceremony. The OCI was recognized for their advocacy efforts, “mobilizing campus resources and raising public awareness in order to meet the immediate needs of the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.” This ceremony honored the, “generosity, valuable time, effort, and resources that the recipients have shared with those in need.” Mentioned specifically at the ceremony was the annual Can the Griz Food Drive, which this year generated more than 56,000 pounds of food donations, the Campus Corps Program, through which MSU students have coordinate the Food Bank’s Summer Lunch Program, the hundreds of one-time and ongoing MSU student volunteers, and the valuable 18 year relationship the Food Bank has enjoyed with the OCI.
MSU Makes The President's Honor Roll for Higher Education Community Service
Montana State University, Bozeman has been named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms. Business students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and businesses, law students volunteered at legal clinics, and dozens of others organized anti-hunger campaigns.
Click here for a full list of 2012 Honor Roll recipients.
Upcoming Service Opportunities
Volunteers Needed at the Community Café
The OCI is partnering with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank to host dinners at the Community Café located at 302 N. 7th EVERY Wednesday from 4:30 -7:30pm. The Community Café is a restaurant serving, “everyone in our community who eats.” Meals are prepared at the Food Bank and transported to the site. Service tasks include set up, meal service, and light clean up. E-mail robin.mayer@montana.edu to sign up!
Gallatin Valley YMCA MTCC VISTA
The MTCC VISTA will work closely with YMCA leadership to develop and implement three specific out-of-school time program opportunities for low-income and disadvantaged youth in the Gallatin Valley. The three program areas the MTCC VISTA will be working on are; afterschool intramural youth sporting leagues, middle school afterschool program and summer camp and integrating an education component to our summer adventure camps.For more information or to find out how to apply, contact Maureen Michaud 406-994-9622 or mmichaud@gallatinvalleyymca.org.
Now Accepting Applications for July 2012 Hopa Mountain -Youth Programs VISTA Position
Spend a year with Hopa Mountain while enjoying all of the benefits of the AmeriCorps program. Hopa Mountain is excited to announce an opening for a July 2012 AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. The AmeriCorps VISTA will work with Hopa Mountain's three programs that serve older youth - Youth Leadership Programs, Youth Leaders in Service, and Indigenous Scholars of Promise. These programs offer teens the opportunity to develop life skills, explore their communities, access resources for higher education, and create positive change through volunteerism and service learning. The VISTA will have the opportunity to create exciting new infrastructure for these programs. If interested, visit the AmeriCorps website at www.americorps.gov. Applications must come through this website, but you can also feel free to contact Hopa Mountain directly for more information at (406) 586-2455.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity needs a volunteer(s) to help remodel a dollhouse. The dollhouse will be used as a model for a future build and auctioned off to help raise funds and awareness about the work that Habitat does in the Gallatin Valley. Volunteers are also always needed at the Habitat Restore in Belgrade. The Restore is open Thurs. & Fri: 10am-2pm and Saturday: 10am - 4pm. More info: call (406) 388-2851.
Bountiful Baskets
Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op (BBFC) distributes produce baskets, organic produce baskets, artisan bread and sandwich bread every other week. BBFC is a grassroots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative. Four volunteers are needed to become Back Up Volunteer Site Coordinators. To become a coordinator volunteers do 3 trainings with the onsite volunteer coordinator, attend a telephone conference, complete agreement. For more information www.bountifulbaskets.org or e-mail catkoe@gmail.com.
